In 2025, Schweikert voted to repeal clean energy tax credits and make them harder to access, threatening clean energy jobs in Arizona. Since the beginning of the Trump administration, clean energy projects that were projected to create hundreds of jobs in Arizona were cancelled or stalled.
Schweikert claimed he did not “see the data” for climate change and called climate activists “incredibly arrogant.” He called the regulatory powers of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act a “federal power grab.”
July 2025: Schweikert Voted For The Senate FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill, The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Which Extended $4 Trillion In Expiring Tax Cuts, Added New Tax Breaks, Appropriated $448 Billion In Defense, Border, And Immigration Enforcement Funding, Increased The SALT Deduction To $40,000, And Cut Medicaid And Other Social Programs To Offset The Costs. In July 2025, Schweikert voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, the “motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill that would permanently extend nearly $4 trillion in expiring individual and business tax cuts, create several new tax breaks and fund border and immigration enforcement and air traffic control upgrades. It would cut Medicaid and other safety net programs to partly offset the cost. Among other provisions, it would raise the statutory debt ceiling by $5 trillion and appropriate more than $448 billion in mandatory funding for Trump administration priorities and other needs, including $153 billion for defense, $89 billion for immigration enforcement, and $89.5 billion for border control and security. It also would increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 annually for five years for households making up to $500,000 a year until 2030, when it would permanently revert to $10,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 214. The bill was ultimately signed into law. [House Vote 190, 7/3/25; Congressional Quarterly, 7/3/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]
2025: Schweikert Missed The Vote For The FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill That Included $3.8 Trillion In Tax Cuts Offset By $1.5 Trillion In Spending Reductions To Programs Like Medicaid And The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In May 2025, Schweikert voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, “the bill that would provide for approximately $3.8 trillion in net tax cuts and $321 billion in military, border enforcement and judiciary spending, offset by $1.5 trillion in spending reductions, as instructed in the fiscal 2025 budget resolution (H Con Res 14). It would raise the statutory debt limit by $4 trillion and provide for increased spending on defense and border security, spending cuts on social safety net programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also includes a mix of tax breaks for businesses and individuals; tax increases on universities and foundations; and a phase-down of clean energy tax credits. […] It would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by requiring states to shoulder more of the cost, expand work requirements for SNAP, extend programs authorized under the 2018 farm bill, and prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from increasing the cost of the Thrifty Food Program. As amended, it would cap state and local tax deductions at $40,000 for households with incomes below $500,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 215 to 214. [House Vote 145, 5/22/25; Congressional Quarterly, 5/22/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]
May 2025: Schweikert Admitted To Falling Asleep Before Congress Voted On The Republican Reconciliation Bill. According to KTAR News, “Arizona U.S. Rep. David Schweikert confirmed that he missed this week’s House vote on a massive bill central to President Donald Trump’s agenda because he fell asleep. ‘It’s embarrassing,’ the northeast Valley Republican told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Friday. Schweikert, chair of the Joint Economic Committee, said he’d been negotiating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for ‘36 straight hours’ before going down the hall to change his shirt early Thursday. ‘Next thing I know, I’m holding a cup of coffee and my phone is ringing saying the vote is on. I’d fallen asleep,’ he said. He raced back to the House floor, but it was too late.” [KTAR News, 5/23/25]
Schweikert Said He Would Have Voted To Support The Republican Budget Bill, But He Fell Asleep. According to KJZZ, “ Republican Rep. David Schweikert says it will likely be months before Congress passes President Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Last week, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the bill, which would renew Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. […] Schweikert was the only member of Arizona’s Republican delegation not to vote for the bill, though he says he supported it. Schweikert said he missed the vote because he fell asleep in his office.” [KJZZ, 5/27/25]
HEADLINE: “Trump’s Tax Bill Eliminates Clean Energy Incentives, Costing Arizona Billions” [AZ Mirror, 7/9/25]
2025: Several Solar Installation Companies And Solar Manufacturers Went Bankrupt, And Clean Energy Projects Were Stalled Or Cancelled, Including Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Nikola, U.S. Solar Panel Manufacturer Meyer Burger, A Buckeye Battery Plant, And An Electric Boiler And Solar Array Project In Casa Grande. According to the AZ Mirror, “A number of solar installation companies and solar manufacturers have gone bankrupt in the past six months, Johnson said. In addition, a number of clean energy projects have stalled or been outright cancelled, some due to uncertainty around the Trump administration: Electric vehicle manufacturer Nikola cut 855 jobs in Arizona in February and the judge in bankruptcy proceedings raised questions about potential buyers due to the Trump administration’s policies. U.S. solar panel manufacturer Meyer Burger in May closed its Goodyear factory, which had been located there because of the IRA. A $1 billion battery plant in Buckeye that aimed to bring over 6,000 jobs and cited the IRA as helping set a ‘clear path’ was scrapped. An electric boiler and solar array project in Casa Grande that would have reduced carbon emissions by 90% was cancelled in May after its funding was cut by the U.S. Department of Energy.” [AZ Mirror, 7/9/25]
2024: Schweikert Said He Did Not “See The Data” On Climate Change And Said It Was “Incredibly Arrogant For The Al Gores Of The World To Stand Up And Say The World’s Coming To An End.” According to Cronkite News, “‘I don’t see the data. When you think about the complexity of a worldwide system, and the amount of data you’d have to capture … how do you adjust for a sunspot?’ Schweikert, who ran a family real estate business and now is in his seventh House term, said in a 2010 interview uncovered by Hill Heat, a climate newsletter. ‘How do you adjust for a hurricane and this and that? I think it’s incredibly arrogant for the Al Gores of the world to stand up and say the world’s coming to an end.’” [Cronkite News, 7/15/24]
2014: David Schweikert Opinion: Schweikert Criticized The Regulatory Powers Of The Clean Water Act And Called It A “Federal Power Grab” From The Environmental Protection Agency. According to a David Schweikert opinion from AZ Central, “Earlier this year, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule that would amend the definition of the ‘waters of the U.S.’ under the Clean Water Act. Not only would this rule expand the EPA's regulatory reach to every body of water in the country, it would give the agency control over vast areas of land simply because it might hold or convey water. […] The second issue I have with this proposed rule is the major federal power grab. The proposed rule never actually defines ‘waters.’ Instead of drawing clear boundaries of what is or isn't considered ‘water,’ the EPA gives itself a wide latitude of discretion to make these determinations on a case-by-case basis.” [David Schweikert Opinion – AZ Central, 5/22/14]